It's a FOMC day

Good Day... And a Tub Thumpin' Thursday to one and all! Well, my trip to the heart & Vascular Center yesterday, brought me nothing new, and the hospital told me to go home, and not come back! We've decided to postpone the heart surgery procedure they suggested I do a month ago, and I'm good with that decision! The doctor was pleasantly pleased at my progress and my weight loss... So, for once in a blue moon, i walked away feeling good about the direction I was heading....  Wild Cherry greets me this morning with their song: Play That Funky Music...

Now, that's a seat dancing song! Wild Cherry was a one-hit wonder... But that one-hit was a Big One! 

Well, the ugliness in the markets yesterday didn't stop all day... The Dollar was bought like funnel cakes at a State Fair, and Gold was sold like Tickle Me Elmos a few years ago.... At the end of the day, the BBDXY had gained 13 index points, Gold had lost $72, and Silver had lost $1.37, and all that we had worked for was laid out for us all to see the mess.... This was outrageous, if you ask me.... I had a dear reader write to me and ask me what was going on, and I replied that "I believe this is profit taking by the Big Boys, you know, like hedge funds, etc. with some short paper trades thrown in, just to remind us that they are still there"....  

These Big Boy units are different than we are, folks... They are what I call "short-term buyers", and Gold was never a part of their "core holding", as if they ever have a "core holding".... So... If I'm correct here, the profit taking will end sometime soon, and we'll pull up our bootstraps and get back to work in selling dollars and buying currencies and metals.... 

The nearly $36 Trillion debt is still out there folks... And the U.S.'s ability to service that debt is still in question, without turning on the printing press again.... And to remind us of all that is one of my favorite analysts in the world... Stephanie Pomboy, who was being interviewed by Kitco.com and had this to say: 

Pomboy also pointed to vulnerabilities in the banking sector, noting that banks are sitting on "500 billion dollars on unrealized losses. That's not going anywhere. It hasn't been cured."

She believes these losses have not been adequately addressed and could pose a significant risk to the financial system.

"This debt and deficit are the existential threat to our economy and the dollar hegemony," she said. "This is a doom loop - with higher interest rates mushrooming out our deficits, essentially bringing forward the day of reckoning."

Chuck again... So, if you battened down the hatches yesterday and didn't panic, I think you''ll end up very happy you did, because this will all come back to meet the problems just like it did previously... 

The price Of Oil bumped higher yesterday, after its initial onslaught to $69, and recovered to end the day trading with a $71 handle... And the 10-year's yield leapt higher, to 4.44%....  The 4.50% I called for before Christmas, doesn't look to far-fetched now does it?

In the overnight markets, the selling stopped in the currencies and metals... The BBDXY has given back 5 index points this morning, and Gold is up $13 to start the day... I really didn't think all the selling was going to stop until the week came to an end, but it does appear that it has stopped now....  Silver is up 12-cents this morning, and the currencies were taken of their life support mechanisms.... 

The price of Oil slipped back to a $70 handle overnight, and the 10-year's yield saw some buyers to bring the yield down to 4.41% to start our day today....

Well, the Bank of England (BOE ) finally bit the bullet and cut their interest rate 25 Basis Points this morning... The BOE had resisted the temptation to cut rates for some time, but finally succumbed to the pressures that were mounting on them by the markets... This bodes well, for my call that the FOMC will cut rates today, thus keeping it a close-knit group.... 

I mentioned yesterday that the two countries, Japan and China, had seen the worst of the selling as their countries are front and center in the raising of tariffs on their exports...  And that will cause the prices of everything we buy from these two countries rise... So, more price pressures are coming folks... Get ready for them because this should come as no surprise... Our Trade Deficit should move upward again, and become a real problem, to go along with the current Debt...  

And money supply? Well, I see this as increasing again, and causing more inflation, but don't let me spoil your breakfast this morning, although, just looking at what happened yesterday would spoil anyone's meal! 

So, the opportunity to buy at cheaper levels is still prevalent in the currencies and metals this morning, but do not procrastinate! If this all goes the way I see it going, these cheaper levels won't be around too long... 

There aren't too many articles out there this morning that talk about the economies, etc. It's all about how the markets will react to Trump 2.0.... I say, "how do they know" So, anyway, I'll just go to the Big Finish and get this out the door...

The U.S. Data Cupboard will have the usual Weekly Initial Jobless Claims this morning... Look for the layoffs from Boeing to affect this data.... And then this afternoon, after all the board games have been put away, the Fed Heads and their FOMC will adjourn the meeting and hold a press conference to tell us what they did, or didn't do... As I said above, I believe the FOMC will cut rates 25 Basis Points (1/4%) and will not dare to cut rate 50 Basis Points like they did the last meeting...  

To recap... It was a very ugly day yesterday for the currencies & Metals... But the sky appears to be clearing.... Reminds me of the great Johnny Nash song, about how "I can see clearly now, I can see all obstacles in my way

Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind" Chuck reminds us that all the problems that existed before the election are still there, and need to be addressed... And Steph Pomboy visits the Pfennig today! 

Here your snippet: he Social Security Administration has finally released the final wage statistics for 2023, and they are quite sobering. 

According to the report, last year the “median wage” in this country was just $43,222.81. In other words, half of all American workers made less than $43,222.81, and half of all American workers made more than $43,222.81.

That is terrible news, because the cost of living has been rising much faster than paycheck have. More people are being squeezed out of the middle class with each passing day, but most Americans don’t even realize that this is happening because the media isn’t really talking about it.

Poverty, homelessness and hunger are all growing all around us, and if we stay on the path that we are on the middle class will continue to be systematically eviscerated.

Once upon a time, the vast majority of the country could afford to live a middle class lifestyle.

But now those days are long gone.

A study that was recently released found that it now takes more than $100,000 a year for a typical U.S. household to live “the American Dream” in all 50 states, and in 29 U.S. states it takes more than $150,000 a year…

A household would have to spend more than $150,000 a year to live the dream in 29 of the 50 states, according to an analysis published in April by the personal finance site GOBankingRates.

According to the report, the optimal American lifestyle would cost $137,842 a year in Ohio, $147,535 in Texas, $159,932 in Florida, $194,067 in New York and $245,723 in California.

The state that has the lowest cost of living is Mississippi.

Living the American Dream only costs $109,516 a year in that state.

Needless to say, someone earning $43,222.81 a year is not going to be able to live the American Dream anywhere in the nation."

Chuck again... I was flabbergasted to see how low that number was... We, as a country, need to get the middle class back to working good jobs again, The middle class is the engine of the economy, and needs to be on terra firma!

Market Prices 11/7/2024: American Style: A$ .6642, kiwi .5997, C$ .7197, euro 1.0777, sterling 1.2958, Swiss $1.1429, European Style: rand 17.5898, krone 10.9179, SEK 10.7739, forint 375.79, zloty 4.0138, koruna 23.4585, RUB 97.85, yen 153.78, sing 1.3252, HKD 7.7723, INR 84.37, China 7.1575, peso 19.93, BRL 5.6956, BBDXY 1,264, Dollar Index 104.69, Oil $70.91, 10-year 4.41%, Silver $31.35, Platinum $983.00, Palladium $1,034.00, Copper $4.35, and Gold... $2,673.96.

That's it for today... Well, my beloved Mizzou Tigers get back on the field, Saturday with a game against their old Big12, Big8, rival, Oklahoma.... OU has joined the SEC now, so the Tigers will play them more often again... With no baseball on TV at night, I'm lost! But it is what it is, so I carry on.... There will be NO Pfennig on Monday, as I will be seeing my oncologist bright and early... The next time we'll talk is on Tuesday next week.... Well, maybe now, all those political texts and phone calls will stop... And I will be able to watch college football on Saturday without someone calling someone a liar, etc.  YAHOO! Well, it's almost time to turn on Pandora's Smooth Jazz Christmas station, so from here on out I'll be talking about the tunes being played there.... But for today, Ducette takes us to the finish line with his song: Mama Let Him Play.... I hope you have a Tub Thumpin' Thursday today, and will Be Good To Yourself!